The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has announced plans to utilise technology for road management and safety enforcement throughout the country.

Speaking to JoyNews, the Director-General of NRSA, David Osafo Adonteng attributed the consistent reduction in road crashes over the last three years to their various campaigns aimed at sensitising the public on road safety.

“This year, Ghana is going to see a lot of technology deployed for road safety management. For example, the police are coming up with what we call the traffictech. You are going to see fewer policemen on the road. Rather, you are going to see cameras being deployed in vehicles and also fixed along the roads to be monitoring the roads 24/7," he stated.

Mr Adonteng explained that electronic means would be used to detect road users, especially drivers, who violate traffic laws.

Subsequently, the NRSA Director-General emphasised that tickets and notices would be issued to drivers and individuals who flout road traffic laws, stating that they would be required to pay penalties or fines.

Mr Adonteng highlighted the authority's reliance on technology to maintain order on major roads across the country.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Police Service has rolled out an automated system to enhance the safety of drivers and enforce adherence to road traffic regulations.

Also read: Ghana Police Service launches Traffitech-GH to detect road traffic offenses

The system known as Traffictech-GH, uses cameras and sensors to capture images and videos of vehicles that would disregard road traffic laws.

The system will also ensure that drivers will no longer have to be stopped by the police on the highways as offences and penalties will be notified via Short Message Service.

Background

Road Crashes continue to take lives as more than two thousand people died through road accidents in 2023. 

For the second consecutive year, road crash casualties topped 2000. The current figures showed that deaths from road crashes declined by 4.1% compared to 2022. 

Injuries and crashes also saw marginal reductions. The latest statistics released by the National Road Safety Authority revealed that 2,276 people were killed in 14,135 reported road crashes involving 23,998 vehicles, with over 15,409 persons suffering various degrees of injuries from the crashes, while 2559 pedestrians were also knocked down.